Legislation is the drafting and enacting of laws by government at all levels. This includes a national, state or local legislature (as well as legislative confirmation of executive officers and constitutional amendments). Legislation may also refer to delegated legislation such as regulations, standards, rules, determinations or ordinances that are created in the exercise of delegated legislative functions.
The process of creating legislation begins when a member of Congress or other legislator proposes an idea for a new law. The proposal is then considered for possible amendments, discussion and voting. If a bill is not passed, it is considered dead and is no longer valid.
When a bill is adopted, it becomes law and must be followed by regulatory authorities and the courts. A key function of legislation is to articulate the purpose of a regime and enable that purpose to guide interpretation and decision making. While no default principle works for all legislation, these Guidelines seek to provide guidance on how best to approach policy drafting and ensure that, where judgement is required, it is clear why the underlying rationale has been chosen.
The Rules of the House and Senate set out a procedure for how bills are considered in each chamber. The first step is for the introduced measure to be referred to the committee of preponderant jurisdiction. If a committee reports the measure without change, it is then read for debate and voted upon in full House. If it passes, the bill is sent to the other chamber for consideration and the same process takes place. If the two chambers adopt different versions of a bill, they form a conference committee to work out the differences.
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